SIPTU vote for new pay deal

SIPTU delegates have voted by an overwhelmingly majority to enter talks on a new nationwide pay deal.

Five hundred members met for several hours in Dublin to discuss the issue.

A motion seeking to abandon negotiations on the pay agreement was not allowed to go before the conference.

SIPTU has warned it’s decision to enter into national pay talks does not commit the union to signing up to any new deal.

However, SIPTU Vice-President, Jack O’Connor says, the union should not be taken for granted.

He said: "We don’t see National take-off as some kind of a glorious symbol. We view it as a strategy seeking an accommodation with the other interests and it’s about exploring the possibility of all sides. "